Debkakes in the UK 2022

Travels in Wales, Scotland, and England

35.1. Day Two in Shetland: Scalloway Museum and Village

When I arrived at. my digs in Hamnavoe, I noticed there was a bus stop almost right outside my door. I took a look at Google maps and saw that I could catch a ride to Scalloway. The bus system in Shetland doesn’t go everywhere, but I really wanted to take it when I could. You’ll hear about The Shetland Bus later — not at all the same thing.

Yummy breakfast, so lovely to cook my own!

Getting a little history of Scalloway before heading to the museum. The museum is recognized as being do-not-miss .

On the bus! So handy being able to use touchless payment on buses in the UK.

A lovely garden. Extraordinary dappled shade.

Just wandering around the town until the museum opens.

Scalloway Castle, currently being renovated.

The tools of work for many residents of Scalloway. It was and remains a fishing village.

The Scalloway Museum is small but really extraordinary. This axe from a past Up Helly Aa is beautiful, and probably functional, too. Up Hally Aa is an event I’d love to experience, if travel to Shetland in the winter weren’t so…iffy.

Some good information about the wreck of the RMS Oceanic, off the coast of the isle of Foula. It was a sister ship to the RMS Titanic, but unlike her, no lives were lost when the Oceanic went down.

I have a friend who does plant dying (lichens, fungi), and I took this photo for her. The variety of lichens in Shetland is very fascinating.

I loved the space dedicated to the women of Shetland. I’ll let these photos speak for themselves.

Much like my personal experience of Harris Tweed (uninterested until I understand what was involved in the making of it), I found myself fascinated with Fair Isle knitting designs and was hoping to find a piece somewhere I could afford.

Shetland has a long, dark history of persecution of woman accused of being witches.

So this is grisly. One could see Gallow Hill from the town, but I opted not to climb it.

A good example of Shetland dialect, very distinctive from other Scottish dialects.

Just a little rant. I was standing where that guy was. He came up behind me and totally invaded my personal space to read over my shoulder. We were LITERALLY the only two people in the museum. End rant.

What he is looking at is the extensive display on The Shetland Bus. This was a rescue mission of fishing vessels (to begin with) under military command to rescue Norwegian citizens after Nazi Germany invaded their country, from 1941-45. There was a huge amount of bravery involved – that stretch of water between Shetland and Norway is pretty dangerous, and the ships, small. The fishing vessels were later joined by well-armed submarine chasers.